These Personalized Novels Are Enticing Ad Creatives to Enter a Fiction Prize

The Winston Fletcher Prize Is Now Open for Entries

By Alexandra Jardine.Published on Apr 20, 2016

Editor's Pick

Many creatives feel they have a novel in them somewhere, but how many actually get to see their name on one? Some in the ad industry were treated to that sight this week.

To promote the Winston Fletcher Prize, a competition for industry writers, agency MullenLowe London sent industry figures blank novels, personalized with their name on the dustjacket and a cover photo appropriate to their work, accompanied by text "Title Goes Here." There's even a potted biography on the back dust flap.

For example, McCann's John Mescall, the creative behind "Dumb Ways to Die," received a book with the gruesome-but-cute characters turned into an illustrated book title. Lee Clow's book features a sledgehammer in homage to the Apple 1984 commercial, while Jeff Goodby recieved a book featuring a milk bottle in a nod to his iconic "Got Milk?" work. DDB's Richard Russell's cover features an engine covered in butterflies, in reference to his Cannes Grand Prix-winning Honda Grrr spot, while Grey London's Vicki Maguire's book cover is illustrated mended heart, referring to her work for British Heart Foundation.

Now in its third year, the Winston Fletcher Fiction Prize was created by a group from the U.K. advertising community in memory of the late Winston Fletcher (who died in 2012), who was also a prolific book writer. Its premise is that some of the greatest writers in history, such as F. Scott Fitzgerald and Joseph Heller, started their careers in advertising, writing work for household brands before writing some of the world's literary classics and the Prize seeks to unearth the next. The winner receives a cash prize of 2000 pounds ($2800) and of course, the envy of all their peers.